New Jedi Knight Game Rumors

[DruggedSith]

Sadly, it won't. It's basically just the original Battlefront with some new maps and characters and extra frills, that's it. Still the same crappy arcade engine, graphics, physics, etc.

 

I have my doubts so I said 'should'. You hit it on the head: Its a crappy console port.

[Prime]

Isn't Jedi Knight the most popular lucasarts game serie?

Could be, but I would suspect that the X-Wing/Tie Fighter series would give it a run for its money...

[riceplant]

I wouldn't care that much if it was only the JA engine modified some more, although it would be much cooler if it was on a next-gen engine with a proper physics engine and the like.

[Neon]

Who knows.

[DarkMe]

Isn't Jedi Knight the most popular lucasarts game serie?

:tsk:I think not!! JK is a great series and I love playing it I still do...But there is also K.O.T.O.R I&II (Knights Of The Old Republic) and that is a very very VERY Good Serie the story's of those games are much better than in the JK game and much better grafics etc etc.... And you don't have to pay for it like Galaxies.

[riceplant]

Well, I've never seen it written like that (it's KotOR), but surely only a fool would compare it to Jedi Knight, the gaming styles are so completely different, and it doesn't even have multiplayer. As for the stories, even battlefront had a better story than JA, but no way is KotOR better than JO, storywise.

[DarkStarMojo]

Riceplant said:

 

Maybe it's just me, then, because I find UnrealEd impossible, and Radiant really quite simple to use.

 

Radient is easier to learn the basics but UnrealEd has much better support for us modders, as CortoCG described. If you're interested in getting a better handle on the editor, might I suggest you visit http://www.planetunreal.com/architectonic/first_level.html It's a really good tutorial on how to use UnrealEd. And for the really eager there are books as well that cover literally every step of the level design process, including models and skins.

 

even battlefront had a better story than JA, but no way is KotOR better than JO, storywise.

 

I didn't think battlefront had a story. The problem with KotoR's story: too many historical inacuracies, though I would argue JK has a better story than JO.

[yrthwyndandfyre]

Has anybody ever told you guys that you're wound 'way too tight? They're video games.

[DarkStarMojo]

It was the "KotoR has too many historical inaccuracies," part, wasn't it?

 

No, I think discussing something as relatively unimportant as a new Jedi Knight game (unimportant in the grand scheme of things, at least ) helps us unwind, especially with so much to worry about in the rest of the world.

[lukeskywalker1]

KOTOR was cool and stuff, and I really liked the story. Certain graphical things bugged me, like seeing the same talking animations over and over and over again. And then how you would see that the reused the same alien sounds... over and over and over again. And then, how they reused the same models over and over and over again. :-\

 

But other than that, I liked the story, for the most part the graphics, saber anims were amazing. But I like the JK series better because you can actually control the battles.

[DarkMe]

that's because it's a RPG

[JDKnite188]

I haven't been here since early June!

 

These threads come every few months and provide the same results. Here is what you people should know:

 

NO CONCRETE RUMORS EXIST ABOUT THE NEXT JK/DF GAME.

 

Yes, people can wish it to come, but it shouldn't be pursued yet.

 

As for the next JK game, I don't really care anymore. JK:DF2 (may as well include MotS too) was the best of the series. JO and JA sent the series downhill. Raven did not even try to continue the great qualities of the original. SW fps's simply cannot compete with other mainstream FPS's anymore. Too bad, LEC. Good ideas but horrible implementations. As Yoda might say, "Finished, you are. No more shall you prosper."

 

For those who still have a copy of JK or even remember it, check out Sith2 , an enhancment project that is adding high-detailed assets and engine upgrades to the original award-winning title.

[DarkStarMojo]

Or our JK Mod: http://shamusworld.gotdns.org/df2mod/index.html.

 

(I know, I know. It's not much to look at... yet...)

 

Hey, that Sith2 thing is pretty cool but I'm always weary about upgrading the original source engine, since no matter how much you improve, there are always rather noticable limitations. We'll see, though.

[yrthwyndandfyre]

It was the "KotoR has too many historical inaccuracies," part, wasn't it?

Not that - never played KoToR, so I wouldn't know. Just the importance people seem to place on details. I have a friend who ranks games on how good the story is and how 'linear' the play is. Me? I rank them on how much fun they are. Sokoban was fun. No story line. Linear play. And a total gas.

 

Consider Star Trek: Everybody argues about inertial dampers and if they could work, when the obvious question is why they work for an half-second leap to lightspeed, but not for disruptor fire, which can throw people all over the bridge. Same-same with these games. Spend less time analysing, more time figuring out how to have more fun, and ignore the inconsistencies.

 

I don't keep track of the 'storyline', and I couldn't possibly care less about it. Inevitably, there is one best path through the game, regardless of how many options you have, and you'll find it eventually. My character is a Jedi, and my sole interest is how to be a truly great one. I'm all over how to win my battles with ever more extravagant and spectacular moves. If I can charge into a room full of enemies, and through a flurry of spectacular stunts drop all of them and sheath my sabre before the first headless corpse sinks to the ground, then I've had fun - I've done something highly unlikely and incredible. In the latter stages of the game where I'm nurse-maiding apprentices, I try to let them do most of the fighting, and still keep all of them alive. The greatest measure of a master's skill is how little he/she has to interfere and still keep their students. That's fun.

 

It's not about the challenges that the story brings to you. It's about the challenges you can bring to *yourself* through the story.

[lukeskywalker1]

Well, I don't like fighting for nothing. Like in JK2- We though Jan was killed... so I had a reason to hunt down Desann and Tavion. In JKA, Well... yeah, cause sort of wasn't there untill you wanted to kick Rosh's butt when you find out what he did... but for the most part you really had no reason to attack the dudes (no personal reason anyways)

[DarkStarMojo]

It was only a joke...

 

Actually, I tend to enjoy a balance of the two. Where the story is an integral part of the game, I prefer the major details to be consistent, but it doesn't bother me a whole lot if a few minor, unimportant things are messed up. Nothing can be perfect, after all. Now, where the story is mearly an excuse to blow things up, I have no objections whatsoever. I loved the Unreal Tournament series and that takes a lot of liberties from the universe created in the first Unreal. But it's fun, so what difference does it make if it totally lacks any semblance of a story? I still enjoyed the first three immensely.

 

It's not about the challenges that the story brings to you. It's about the challenges you can bring to *yourself* through the story.

 

Very well put. I never thought of it that way.

[Kurgan]

Statistically speaking, maybe. But it's becoming rather dull. I think Battlefront (plus sequel) and Galaxies will concentrate all the Star Wars fans in the near future. The Jedi Knight community is a dying community.

 

 

Compared to JK2/JA, the SWBF community is pretty small. I think there were never more than 150 SWBF servers (and most with less than 10 people) in the first few months I played it, and checking again many months later.

 

JK2/JA each have between 500 and 1000 servers each, and while they both have many empty servers, the total players far outweighs any SWBF players.

 

SWBF isn't quite as pathetic as Republic Commando (with it's 15 servers), but still. I don't know if it's "dying" per se, but I'm sure if SWBF2 is "the game they intended to make in the first place" people will have little reason to play SWBF after it comes out. They are even including some of the same old maps (but not only, only a handful appear to cross over... so I wonder if people will just port over the old maps). It appears the SWBF2 will be more of an "upgrade" than a true sequel, even though it's being marketed as a sequel. Basically they want to give you the Episode III hype and fix the old game, plus slap on some bonus features like the Jedi and space battles, stuff that were only hinted at and done poorly in the first game.

 

SWBF2 will get massive hype, but without the game getting great reviews (I'm sure it will, just because of all the Star Wars hype) and serious improvement over the past incarnation, it won't get the community that SWBF ought to have had.

 

Galaxies is a whole nother ballgame. MMORPG's don't appeal to everyone, but by their very nature have tens or hundreds of thousands of players. They have thousands of addicted players paying every month to play. They're in a category all their own. But FPS action gamers don't find much in there to their liking. Sure in Galaxies you can do ship fighting if you buy the expansion, but honestly, you're in an RPG already, this is just one facet of the game experience. Most of your time is spent wandering around, chatting and wasting time, buying/trading items and killing the same boring enemies over and over again. All MMORPG's are that way. I guess that's popular.

 

So yeah, I'd say MMORPG's will always be "more popular" but they're almost in a world by themselves, compared to other online capable games.

[Kurgan]

If they make a new JK game with the Unreal or the Source Engine it would be a great step forward for the series. Both engines have so much more support and are easy to mod. Jedi Academy and Jedi Outcast are both obsolete dying pieces of junk.

 

Perhaps, but until another game comes out that does all of what these games do, but better (on PC with online play), they won't completely go away.

 

And the series provides enough variety that if say we had a "pure Jedi" (with only sabers and force and duels) game came out, there would still be warrant to play it.

[Prime]

KOTOR was cool and stuff, and I really liked the story. Certain graphical things bugged me, like seeing the same talking animations over and over and over again. And then how you would see that the reused the same alien sounds... over and over and over again. And then, how they reused the same models over and over and over again. :-\

True, but on the otherhand, at least there were people in the galaxy. In JO and JA, it's like you and the Imeprials are the only people in existence.

[lukeskywalker1]

But Galaxys is updated every 6 months... it seems.

[Kurgan]

Not surprising when they fit the typical MMORPG model. They have tens of thousands (or hundreds of thousands, I haven't checked the actual stats for SWG but if it's popular that wouldn't be surprising) of people, who PAY EVERY MONTH to play. So with that kind of revenue, they can afford to release multiple expansions AND continually update the game. Plus since it's "multiplayer only" they have greater incentive to tinker with things (which isn't all good, people always get upset when things are changed in the game that they thought were fine or cool before, or the changes don't go far enough to their satisfaction... in RPG's).

 

As I said, MMORPG's aren't for everyone. All things being equal, continual updates and tens/hundreds of thousands of players would seem to be seriously in SWG's favor over and above all other Star Wars games, but keep in mind the shortcomings and differences in the model and atmosphere. If it were simply superior, nobody would ever play any of these other games. But even if you have MILLIONS of people playing KOTOR2, you'd "never know it" because it's a single player game, and I'd be a far harder game to just tinker with or release updates to. All that stuff has to be scripted, whereas in a MMORPG, the players themselves provide most of the entertainment. The rest is just generic hack'n'slash, wandering around and buying/trading items. No story, no character development really.

 

The best games are the ones that are hardest to add to, because they already have so much you can't top it and/or you'd have to rewrite everything to make it a worthwhile change. Gamers get mad if you change something for no reason in the default mode (that's why mods can get away with it, they're not supported by the company and you can choose not to use them).

[DruggedSith]

It appears the SWBF2 will be more of an "upgrade" than a true sequel, even though it's being marketed as a sequel.

 

The same thing with the JK series. Academy was little more than an expansion pack to Outcast that was marketed as a full title. $50, server list problems right out of the gate and one crappy patch. If history is any indication.......lets just say I wont be rushing to my local game store to by another overhyped SW game.

 

Galaxies is awful. Im a long time FPS player finding a little entertainment with World of Warcraft but there are almost no redeeming qualities about most MMO's and SWG tops that list. It will always have a great following thanks to those people who think all things Star Wars are great ("Phantom menace smokes braveheart!!!1!!" and has little to do with how great the game is by itself.

 

When you grow up dreaming of living in a galaxy far far away and being a Jedi, a shoddy online universe delivering something towards that end seems better than it actually is.

 

There are not too many non-star wars fans hyping the merits of SWG. Ive tried it. Twice. Its terrible.

[Darth Kaan]

JA came out at a time when most left in the JO community swore no more "Jedi" games were coming anytime soon. Some claimed to have friends at Lucas Arts and Raven and were in contaxt with them via email, yadda, yadda. When JA came out it was a surprise to everyone and we all found out Raven had been working on it since a few days after JO's release. If LA is going to release another game, they are not obligated to say so one way or the other.

[90SK]

^^^

If that’s so, it won't be out for a while. I'm sure that with all the complaints they've gotten about an "expensive patch", they'll be making the game much more unique than the last two (if at all). I'd assume that we would most likely see one come out in 2-3 years. If not, I don't think they'll be any more.

[Gabrobot]

As far as what engine a new Jedi Knighty game should use, I'll just throw out another reason why the Doom 3 engine would be great. Here's something Brian Harris, a programmer at id Software, said on doom3world.org:

 

I really hate to thread-jack, but if you are doing a swordfighting game, you can actually go all-out with doom 3 since the ragdoll and animation stuff is in the game code. You can use the animation for the feet and control the arm bones completely in the code. My suggestion would be to make it third person and when you click and drag the mouse it moves the sword around in the same motion.

 

Sounds kinda like what Obi-Wan was doing when it was a PC game. Just imagine a saber fight where not only can you directly control the saber motion, but also where physics are combined with it all as well...the possibilities are endless.